Lecture on the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem

(Lecture video at the end of the article)

Saraya al-Nasul (peace be upon him) before the conquest of Jerusalem:

The conquest of Jerusalem is part of the conquest of Palestine, Which came as a continuation of the strategy of the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) in this regard, His messengers and companies to Palestine, which numbered six campaigns in his lifetime, and the purpose of these campaigns was primarily reconnaissance, with the aim of testing the strength of the Byzantines and their Arab allies, knowing their methods of fighting, and subjugating the Arab tribes in them and introducing them to Islam.
These campaigns are:
  • Hasma campaign in the year 7 AH.
  • The campaign of chains 8 AH.
  • A campaign with a divorce in the year 8 AH.
  • Tabuk campaign in the year 9 AH.
  • Osama’s campaign in the year 11 AH, which he wanted to send to (build) in southern Palestine, He died recommending their enforcement, Caliph Abu Bakr carried it out after him.
  • Khalid bin Said’s campaign to Taima in the year 13 AH in the caliphate of Abu Bakr.

Open Date:

The accounts differ in determining the date of the conquest of Jerusalem. Saif ibn ‘Umar al-Tamimi al-Kufi made it in the year 15 AH. It makes it more narrations attributed to narrators close to the event in time and place, such as Yazid bin Ubaidah Al-Dimashqi,Al-Waleed bin Muslim Al-Dimashqi , Ibn Al-Kalbi, Al-Yaqoubi and Ibn Al-Batriq in the year 16 AH. Abu Hafs al-Dimashqi said that it was opened in the year 17 AH. It is most likely that it was opened after Umar came to Jabiya in the year 16 AH, because Umar did not enter Palestine until that year.

The course of the conquest:

After their victory in the Battle of Yarmouk in the year (15 AH) to liberate Palestine, the Muslims went to liberate Palestine, They began with Jerusalem on the order of Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab, There are two accounts of how the city was liberated:


First novel
:

– It is most common – that Abu Ubaidah Amer bin Al-Jarrah and the rest of the leaders of the conquest of the Levant besieged Jerusalem for four months in the cold rainy winter, And they tightened on her family until they asked for safety, Provided that the Caliph shall be the one who shall sign it for them, Abu Ubaidah wrote to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab asking him to come and sign safety for her family. So Omar walked to Jabiya, And from there to Jerusalem and opened it in peace, And safety fell for her family.


Second novel
:

that Caliph Umar came to Jabiya to organize the affairs of the open country on his own, And without asking anyone, From there, Khalid bin Thabit al-Fahmi was sent to Jerusalem, So he besieged her until her family asked for safety, And he gave them that, He stipulated to them that his agreement with them would not be valid until after the consent of the Caliph, and ratify it, And he wrote to ‘Umar about this, and ‘Umar came, He signed and approved the Khalid bin Thabit Agreement.
Dr. Al-Douri states that the Holy City did not have such military significance. It could not insist on extraordinary terms with the conquerors, And that the delivery and reconciliation took place under the supervision of Abu Obeida, And that the Caliph Omar came at that time to Jabiya to inspect the Arab forces in the Levant, Then he visited Jerusalem after that because it is the country of Isra and Mi’raj and the first of the two qiblas, Perhaps his visit was considered an endorsement of reconciliation.

Continue in the lecture of the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem

Age Custody:

The narratives differ in determining the terms of the peace agreement known as the age trust, its texts, and the population elements that it included in the city. In general, this reconciliation came to the Christians, There are two most common versions of the Trust:

First, Syriac sources:

It quotes a brief text of Aman Omar and focuses on the fact that Safrinos is the Patriarch of Jerusalem (taking safety from Omar Ibn Al-Khattab to Jerusalem and all the cities of Palestine), The Book of Safety included a condition that prohibits Jews from inhabiting Jerusalem, which reads: (A Jew we found in Jerusalem has been acquitted from this day, Whoever we find has been punished in his hair, his skin and his money.)

Second: Islamic Sources:

There have been more than one narration on the subject of the age custody, the most important of which are: Narrated by Saif bin Omar Al-Tamimi Al-Kufi.
Analyze the text of the age custody.

The text of the age trust shall conclude the following:

  • Giving the people of Jerusalem security and freedom of ownership.
  • Granting the people of Jerusalem religious freedom in exchange for paying tribute to those who wanted to remain Christian, And the rum was expelled from it.
  • Freedom of residence and movement.
  • Jews are not allowed to live in the city.
In fact, the clause on restrictions on Jews entering Jerusalem reminds us of the restrictions imposed on them by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius, which prevented them from entering or approaching the city after collaborating with the Persian occupation against the Byzantines. This clause also confirms the Coptic narrative that the condition that Jews were forbidden to reside in Jerusalem in the age covenant came out of fear of Jewish reprisals against Christians, as they did during the Persian occupation of Elijah.

He continued in the lecture of the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem – Part Two The inhabitants of Jerusalem at the time of the Islamic conquest:

Population:

After their victory in the Battle of Yarmouk in the year (15 AH) to liberate Palestine, the Muslims went to liberate Palestine, They began with Jerusalem on the order of Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab, There are two accounts of how the city was liberated:


Arabs
:

Umar ibn al-Khattab landed in Jerusalem after its conquest in 16 AH / 638 AD half of the army allocated to the conquest of Palestine, which is approximately three thousand fighters. Led by ‘Alqama ibn Mujzaz al-Kinani, the sources mention the names of many of the Sahaabah and Taabi’een who settled there after its conquest, including:
  • The companion Ubadah bin Al-Samit Al-Ansari, who died and was buried there in the year 34 AH, In the Bab al-Rahma cemetery next to the eastern wall of the city.
  • The companion Shaddad bin Aws Al-Ansari, who died and was buried there in the year 58 AH in the cemetery of Bab Al-Rahma along with the worship of Ibn Al-Samit.
  • The companion Abdullah bin Amr bin Qais Al-Khazraji (son of um Haram)
  • The companion Abu Muhammad al-Khazraji al-Ansari.
  • Yemeni tribes of Himyar settled in Jerusalem, including the companion Salama bin Qaiser Hadrami Himairi, Affiliate um Darda.
  • A number of members of the Kinda tribe descended to it, the most famous of which are: Tabi Raja bin Haywa.
  • A number of members of the Kenana tribe also settled in the city, the most famous of whom are: Alqama bin Majzzz al-Kinani, one of the army commanders who participated in its conquest, And the companion Wathla ibn al-Asqa al-Kinani.
  • The intensity of Arab stability in Jerusalem was observed in the time of the Rashidun, Especially from the generation of the Companions and followers who descended there, so it became a residence for them and their descendants after them.


Christians
:

  • A number of Arab and Roman Christians lived in Jerusalem alongside the Muslims, and they stayed in the northern part of it. Umar ibn al-Khattab gave them security for themselves, their money and their churches. Christians constituted a large proportion of its population until the end of the Rashidun era. They lived with the Muslims in harmony and peace.

Jews:

  • The Jewish community worked as servants and cleaners on the Temple Mount, They numbered 20, It seems that they were poor religious people.
Professions:
The Muslim Arabs worked among its people in the administration and the army, governors, judges, writers and fighters, Some of them worked in education, And most Christians worked in handicrafts and trade, Some of them held administrative positions in the State, So they made a book in the Diwan of the abscess, A few of them served as doctors for caliphs and governors.

Administration:

Omar Ibn Al-Khattab divided the Levant after its conquest into Ajnad, Under this system, the lands that belonged to Palestine in the Byzantine era were distributed among two soldiers, The second Palestine became Jund al-Jordan after the conquest with the city of Tiberias as its capital.
The territories of Palestine I and III constituted: Jund Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital, Beit Shean and Al-Lajoun represented its northern border with Jund al-Jordan, And Ayla on the Red Sea is the farthest point in its southern border, While the shape of the Mediterranean, And the Egyptian Sinai desert has its western borders, The western slopes of the Balqa and Sharah mountains formed its eastern border.


Administrative institutions
:

  • Among the most important administrative institutions that existed in Palestine: Diwan Al-Jund, Al-Kharaj, Al-Rasa’il and Bayt Al-Mal, Judiciary and stories, And the role of the sukkah (striking money).
  • The administrative apparatus of Jund Palestine consisted of the governor and his workers on the Kor, cities, Bayt al-Mal, Diwans, police, hijab, and the judiciary. and stories.
  • The governor of Jerusalem in the caliphate of Omar bin Al-Khattab (16-23 AH) was Alqama bin Majzz Al-Kinani, Ubadah ibn al-Samit al-Ansari, who served as the governor of Jerusalem in the caliphate of Uthman (24-35) was Shaddad ibn Aws al-Ansari. Tamim bin Aws al-Dari was taken over during the fitna (35-40 AH) by Salama bin Qaiser al-Hadrami.
  • The names of some of those who took over the judiciary and stories in Jerusalem at the time of the Rashidun, It is mentioned that Ubadah ibn al-Samit took over the judiciary in the caliphates of Umar and Uthman. The companions Tamim al-Dari and Abu Rayhana Shimon al-Azdi held the position of storyteller (preacher) in the mosque of Jerusalem.

Source: Jerusalem History Course – Al-Quds Open University

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